anybody from the windy city will say there are two chicagos, one with thriving downtown and the others that people rarely see. >> any time you hit the tier, it lets them know our information is constant. no matter what they try to do, we have the ups on them. >> only pli biplanting eyes and ears inside the jail system and on the streets can authorities battle gang violence. >> i got about 20 good informan informants.

they call me every other day. they envelope me of everything. >> he's flagging me down, right? >> you took a friend to this guy's residence. >> 3.5. >> what's 3.5? an eight ball of cocaine. >> these guys make a living. >> but as police take down one stash house after nothing -- >> movement on the second floor. >> watch those windows. >> even their best informants can't always be trusted. >> it's odd that no one's in there, that nothing's in there. >> somehow they got tipped off. i don't know how. >> you ever work with the police before or no?

>>. >> it's 4 p.m. anyone from the windy city will say there are two chicagos. the one with the thriving downtown, historic ballparks and world renowned architecture and the other that tourists rarely see. it's 4:00 p.m., and the beginning of a long night for members of the criminal intelligence unit at chicago's cook county jail. investigators drake carpenter and adrian sandoval is lining up a new street informant, whom we'll call niko, to protect his identity. after getting out of jail on bond, niko applied to work with

investigators as an soi or source of information in exchange for money. >> this will be his soi pact and we'll get all his vital information here. his name won't exist on anything. he's been officially given a number. this number will go from him from here on out and we'll also give him an opportunity to pick a name. that name will be used when he gets paid. >> niko's off to a promising start already. he's provided them the address of an alleged drug ring on the city's northwest side. police have made 29 arrests at the house in the past. >> i mean there's even a rape charge that came out of that property also. >> as sandoval looks up the prior arrests, he comes up with a major player. >> this guy's a high ranking -- he stays there? >> yeah, that's the one. >> holy cow. >> yeah, i seen him -- >> yeah, he's on the land low. >> that isn't the only offender tied to the residence. >> all of these individuals have been arrested at this address at one point or another. we have the rap sheets for all of them. >> even though niko says he's bought cocaine at the house before, he can't confirm who the ringleader is. >> see, they make him wait by the front. he has to use a connection, and the connection goes through the gate. the only issue is, we don't really know who the target is. so hopefully we can set up enough surveillance so we can see who is coming out to serve this guy at the door or see what

apartment he's going into or whatever. >> the plan is to send an undercover officer there to buy drugs with niko, that way they hope to identify the dealer, and then build a case for a search warrant. >> showing up with a guy would mean nothing, right? okay. now you don't see what apartment he goes to? >> i walk with him. >> you're going to walk with him? >> he told me -- he told me -- you know what i mean. >> okay. you know what, anybody, i could walk down the street. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> i'll fit right in. >> right. >> i'll throw on a hat or whatever and just walk down the street like i'm going home from work and try to get a direct eyeball as he is approaching the house. this is the actual property but it doesn't look like this any more. it has a six-foot wooden fence all the way around the property, it's going to make it a little harder. you have a steel gate in the front, like a security gate, and a security gate in the back.

>> yeah, i'll put it on. >> you watch so much tv but that would be nice. >> i love this. >> before sandoval and carpenter go any further, they need to find out the gang affiliations and ranks of each of the men connected to the house. >> we have to check some charts, just to make sure we know we identify the potential risks. on these guys i mean, there's always high risk, it's just so we know what we're getting into. >> this guy on the chart -- does he look familiar to you. >> can i look -- >> latin maniacs or whatever

this guy said, lovers or maniacs. just run him on the portal, see what comes up. >> okay. >> the background checks confirm that at least one of the known offenders belongs to the violent latin lover street gang. >> that's why i remember his name so much. his name came up a lot. and they don't have a lot of guys. for him to be on the chart he's got a rank form. >> together with the cook county sheriff's police, sandoval and carpenter coordinate the first of two undercover buys at the target house. each buy must happen under police surveillance and officers have to complete at least two narcotics sales at the location in order to get a search warrant. >> get out of the car. >> there we go right there. >> sandoval and carpenter watch an undercover cop arrive to score cocaine from the dealer. but they aren't the only ones doing surveillance. at least two other unmarked sheriff's police cars are in the vicinity with officers watching. >> he's taking a long time. >> you thought it would be faster, right?

>> after several minutes, the first buy is over. >> here he comes. >> when you pull out, go that way. >> go that way? >> yeah, go that way. >> investigators debrief at a nearby parking lot. they've now eyeballed the dealer, a known target in their records and made a successful purchase. the undercover officer goes back to make the second buy a while later. >> we're good to go. go ahead and write the search warrant up and start making plans to execute it. >> both times tonight, police also identified an armed lookout man and a pit bull outside the residence, which means there's probably a large stash of drugs and money inside. >> this is looking decent right now. >> this is a big stink. it's looking decent right now. >> don't count your chickens. >> yeah, before they're hatched. >> the next step for sheriff's

police is to do more surveillance of the house before they launch a raid. and the ciu's informant says he wants to set up yet another narcotics sting for them soon. >> the guy really wants to help you, he's got to want to do it. and then once you find a guy like that, you got to take advantage. you got to mold him. once you got a guy that can listen to you, follow some direction, yet stay in his own natural natural element, that's the most important thing. coming up on "the squeeze." >> you'll never find him. >> one of the ciu's long-time informants leads them to a stash spot. and later -- >> it's not personal, this is business. >> yeah, i know. >> you understand? >> authorities gun for the target that niko provided them. >> police search warrant open the door. let me tell you about a very important phone call i made.

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>> yeah, man, real [ bleep ] up.

>> chicago's cook county jail, home to 10,000 inmates. for many first-timers here, county is a rite of passage. >> they get here and instead of saying, man, i screwed up. it's like, man, i finally made it. i went to county jail. either i made it and i got beat up, i got to beat somebody up, it's the story they tell. >> some individuals come into the institution and gain more contacts, more insights, more avenues for their criminal enterprise. >> county is also where accused criminals are at their most vulnerable because their cases haven't gone to trial yet. if they have useful intel, they might try to get a plea bargain with the state's attorneys office. and that's how the siu finds willing informants. >> all you have to do is utilize

one thing, that's patience. >> the ciu has cultivated hundreds of jailhouse informants, and some of them continue working for money after they get out. today, investigator franco doma arranges to meet a long-time source nicknamed washington outside city limits. they first began working together when washington was locked up on a gun charge. >> he was known to sell narcotics. he had guns on him, would shoot at people. i like a challenge, you know what i mean? knowing that we've had problems with him in the past, i figured, let me give this guy a chance. what can he tell me? he's provided a wealth of information during his incarceration by providing me with knives, you know what i mean, shanks. at no time did he lie to me. this is a good informant, i have five great informants, and he's probably my best. not only does he tell me about the drugs, he tells me about the violence, potential for shootings, the violence in the inner cities and suburbs of chicago. hey, i'm around the corner. bye-bye. see him in the black coming?

you have to ease up here, there's a lot of activity in this area. and i got to provide safety for him. he's walking, he's looking around. he's looking around for his safety. i mean, because people are at him. he's looking to the left, to the right. once he makes eye contact, we'll pull into an alley. see, he's flagging me down, all right? >> what's up, buddy. >> you want to go to a location where we can debrief? sandoval, stay there, sandoval, i'm coming. i'm coming by the ballpark. 10-4? >> yeah, 10-4. >> how are you doing, buddy? how was your week? >> okay. >> you work? >> no. >> for several years now, washington has provided reliable intell about drug operations and

potential gang hits. he receives a paycheck in return. and the bigger the bust, the bigger his reward. the purpose of today's meeting, to identify potential targets for search warrants. >> remember the house that you gave demus? >> yeah, all i know is he sell coke. i been there twice. the last time about two and a half weeks ago. >> you took a friend to this guy's residence? >> 3.5. >> what's 3.5? >> an eight ball. >> an eight ball of cocaine? i've been hard with this kid. when i mean hard, where you at? you better stay out of trouble. you understand me? yes, sir. he treats me like a dad. if i wasn't around, he'd probably be back in jail. >> doma always tell me, if you lie, because believe it or not he's going to find out anyway. so make a left. >> where the bus turned?

it's off a division. >> yeah, it's right here on the corner. i'm actually going to point it out. >> investigator domma and his informant drive by an alleged drug house to scope it out. domma will later debrief the sheriff's police about setting up an operation there. >> 1,000 feet from a school. that's even better. we need informants for survival. you have to trust your informant. you got to keep him close. i keep telling him, the number one thing is, if you tell these guys, your safety is my key, forget about a dope dealer, because everybody sells drugs, correct? i need him out there for the violence. something happens in this town, i put him out there and i tell him, hey, shorty, find out what happened. you think he's not going to come back and tell me what happened? >> solving murders, and better yet, preventing them takes top priority at the jail as well.

ciu investigators have received a tip about mounting gang tensions at division 6, a medium security building which houses several dozen teenaged inmates. their informant, who lives on the problem deck, warns them that a large-scale showdown is imminent. >> you got to prove yourself when you come here. this is where you see who's going to run when it hits the fan, and who's going to stay and fight. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? we talked about getting a diamond. but with all the thank you points i've been earning... ♪ ...i flew us to the rock i really had in mind. ♪ [ male announcer ] the citi thank you card. earn points you can use for travel on any airline, with no blackout dates.

turn around, turn around. face the wall. >> division 9, cook county jail. the emergency response team acts on intell from the ciu and hits a maximum security deck to search for shanks and other homemade weapons. >> line up and face the wall. >> officers out on the street,

when they line these individuals up, they're referred to as a menace to society. they eliminate their problem, when they come in here, that's when our day begins. >> the raid turns up evidence of shanks in the making. >> they're melting down the plastic from the bottles, and they use this to mold it until they get it hard enough and turn it into a shank. so here's the officer seen them through the chuckhole unwrapping what they had and flush it in the toilet. >> it's not enough evidence to charge anyone, but authorities believe they have averted a possible assault for now. >> we've got 1,500 people in here that are charged with murder. we have another 1,500 that are charged with attempted murder. so you have probably close so you have probably close to 3,000 people that would at any given moment take anybody's life. >> a whole library of incidents after this year. >> if you have a question about

a guy's gang affiliation, this video will help you figure it out. >> they're getting ready to hit him on the phone there. >> that's them right there? >> yep. >> that's them right there. >> here he goes. >> you have 40, 50 guys on one tier that are killing each other out on the streets, and you're expecting them to get along. you know, eventually tempers you know, eventually tempers fly and that's when we end up having our stabbings or fights. >> ciu members and correction staff face danger around every corner. 161 fights and 34 stabbings took place here in 2008. today, investigators sandoval, carpenter and buccio will assist with yet another tier search. they'll be looking for weapons and contraband on a deck of teenaged inmates. >> we received some intelligence that two rival gangs are having some difficulties right now and that they were going to attempt to send the deck up, start a

large-scale fight at rec today. >> we called our ert, our emergency response team. and together we're going to run in on the deck. >> we're going to the window like we're filming in there. of course, kids are going to be kids, they're going to come to the window. they're going to be all over the camera doing that stuff. ert is going to get behind them, so you get the rush in while we're out in front. >> what's up, buddy? >> no! >> get up, get up, get up. move it out. >> let's go. get on the wall. get on the wall. >> get up on the wall.

do it now. >> let's go. get up. get on the wall. get on the wall. >> get up on the wall. do it thought. >> you don't understand look at the wall, big fella? maybe you're looking for some work. i got what you need. all you have to do is act like you don't want to do what you're being told to do, gentlemen. >> pay attention. this is a cook county search conducted for your safety. at this time look forward but the wall in front of you. if you turn around for any reason you are not following instructions. comply with all orders. >> i will take away everything that you hold dear, so calm down. >> love back. move back. >> here. what you got here, common area, they know they can't really get

in trouble for this. a shank wrapped up in a bed sheet. you have one more in the shower here. poker style. that poker is what you see when a guy goes out of here, he's not breathing. because somebody hit him with one of those straight pokers, and left it all the way in or pulled it out, could hit a lung. pull it out, it's over. we've seen it. both of us have seen it. >> coming in here probably saved one of these kids' lives. we'll find more here, stashed under the tables. you guys are ready to rock, i can tell you that. look at their gym shoes, they're on tight. when they're laced up they're ready to go. if they're not, normally they're wearing shower shoes or whatever. if you get a good close-up of the gym shoes, you know that any minute this tier was going to go. >> unbeknownst to these young inmates, eric recruited an informant among them. that's how he learned of the trouble brewing on their deck.

>> what happens, guys come in here, 17 years old, their first case. you have to prove yourself when you come in here. a lot of times this is where your reputation begins. you do something in here, this will leak out into the streets. when you get out, we heard what you did when you were locked up. you're a beast or, you know, you ran or we heard you snitched or we heard this. it all follows you. >> the burden falls on investigators to keep the conflicts down. so they're always minding intell from everyone they come across. buccio leans on a detainee who's not his informant. >> the deck is one. you know everybody will go on lockdown for this shank thing. you need to find out who had it. find out who had it and i'll try to get them. this is -- as soon as we come out, i'm going to try my best.

>> why is anybody looking for keys >> once investigators determine who made the shanks, they'll either charge the inmate in court, or they'll use it as leverage to turn him into an informant to solve other cases. >> good job, boots. good job. you really came through in the clutch. >> for now, investigator buccio can enjoy a momentary victory. >> until today, i was regretting bringing him upstairs. >> i'm sorry. >> we had the transfer papers ready. >> we had your transfer papers ready. >> you ready to be out. >> anything for you. you jump in a shoe box, and you're upstairs. >> oh, man. >> wow! >> that was good, man, for real. >> the culture of violence inside the jail mirrors the brutality of the streets. especially on chicago's west and south sides. according to investigator domma, a nine-year veteran of gang intell, his approach to working

the streets is similar to what he does inside county. >> this is like the jail. this is the division for me. this is division nine. i have to have the same concept. you have to have informants for survival. >> in law enforcement, you have to have your brain working hours. i'm always thinking long term, what can i do to make this a better, safer environment. how can i control the violence. i'm going to take a pass real fast in an area known for narcotics and violence. this is called washington park. gang bangers, they got no place to hang out. the best place to go is a park, sell illegal narcotics, shootings here at night. there's a lagoon. you throw somebody's body in the lagoon, you'll never find him. >> chicago's mayor richard daley proposed hosting the olympics at washington park among other venues. this south side neighborhood where nearly half of them live in poverty once swelled with slum-like housing projects.

much of the city's housing projects has been demolished in recent years, but a few remain, including those at cabrini green on the north side. thousands of gang members have grown up in these projects, only to wind up at cook county jail and then state prison. >> watch your face. oh, my gosh, see the guy with the hat on? he's on the hierarchy chart. man. remember the charts we put on the walls, those eight page, all out of here. you gotta know who everybody is. >> with his informant's help, investigator domma has identified dozens of firearms and drug traffickers over the years. >> the people he can target are the key players. this kid here can do multiple people. >> and today, they've eyeballed several alleged drug houses for the sheriff's department to investigate. washington stands to make a percentage off any narcotics that police seize later. it's all in an afternoon's work. >> where you want me to drop you off at? >> make a left.

no, right here, right here, right here. >> i got about 20 good informants where they call me. every other day they are tremendous informants. you have to care for them. they go out risking their lives for me. i see you. it means a lot. coming up later on "the squeeze" -- >> there was a lot of business

>> whoever is getting in my

truck, let's go. >> as night falls, sandoval joins a caravan of vehicles to the location. 16 hbt members plan to storm the house, while 9 other officers from the sheriff's police and ciu provide backup. >> get ready. >> all right, we are eastbound in the alley. eastbound in the alley.

we have somebody in the doorway. >> he's in the house. >> what is going on? what is going on? >> in the house, we're the police, okay? >> police, open the door. police, open the door. >> we got the back. >> police. put your hands up. >> movement on the second floor. movement on the second floor. >> we have movement on the second floor. >> lights over there. >> within minutes, police breach the front and back of the house and secure the first floor. then they set off a diversionary device and take the second floor. >> i see the lights. >> we're good. >> with ten people and several dogs inside now under control, investigators look for their target, but he's nowhere to be seen. instead, they find his brother, his teenage son, and several guest borders hiding upstairs. they place the target's brother in custody and begin their search for drugs and guns.

>> hello? who is this? you don't know who it is? oh, this is the police. yeah, we're in your house right now. we're doing a search warrant. [ dogs barking ] >> they don't want to talk to me. >> authorities recover 20 grams of cocaine sitting in plain sight. and they put the squeeze on the target's son to find out where his father is. the teenager, who's known to brandish a gun around the neighborhood, clams up. >> you been to county before? how old are you? you know what happens to 17-year-old boys at county that are not affiliated? you don't know, you don't watch tv? bad stuff happens to 17-year-old nonaffiliated boys. you say you're not gang banging. two things happen, you get plugged or you plug. you understand what i'm saying to you? you understand the difference, though? one happens voluntarily, one happens involuntarily.

do you understand that? all right, if that's the choice you want to make, if you like boys, you like boys. >> you're 17? >> you know how to fight. huh? >> we're going to take you to a real lockup, okay, and you're going to go down to the county. that's a real thing. this ain't no joke. so either you get in touch with daddy, or you're going. >> he looks pretty scared. trying to play the tough role, you know, he's young and everything, so we finally let him know somebody's going to take the weight for what's found. it could be you, it could be your uncle. it's going to be somebody. somebody is going. >> put the cuffs on, we'll talk to him downtown. it's that easy. excuse me. i don't got time to deal with it, this is ridiculous. how many chances are you going to give him? >> the target's son denies knowing where his father is or even how to reach him. but when investigators scroll

through his cell phone contacts, they find a number that comes up as dad. the teenager claims the number really belongs to his mother. >> if she answers or not, if dad answers or not, he's going, right? >> yeah. >> i'm going to make sure he gets a special place, that's where he's going. >> as the teenager stalls for time, investigator hernandez puts a call into the mother. >> she only speaks spanish. [ speaking spanish ] >> and gets an answer that no one's expecting. oh it's clearance time!

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it's after 9:00 p.m., and cook county authorities are searching for the alleged leader of a dope ring on chicago's northwest side. they've seized more than 20 grams of cocaine at his house, and they're ready to take his 17-year-old son to jail. >> how old are you? you know what happens to 17-year-old boys at the county, not affiliated? bad stuff. let's put the cuffs on him, put him in the car, take him to jail. >> but first they contact the mother who seems unfazed that police have raided her home. [ speaking spanish ] >> the mom will probably hate that. [ speaking spanish ] >> i asked her whose room this is, she said all of us stay in there from time to time. i said, who's all of us? me, my kids? i said, should i arrest all of you, including the kids? she said what for? for the drugs in the house. she goes, what drugs? >> she's good.

>> everybody's stupid today. >> so she's not coming home right? >> she's taking care of some kids, her niece and nephew. >> not her own kids, but -- >> her niece and nephew. yeah, she ain't coming. >> i mean the thing is is this, we can take whoever we want in and charge them. nothing's going to stick. the drugs are in there open. it doesn't matter. if the target was here, that's one thing. without the target, it's going to go to prelim and get caused. why even bother. we recover the drugs -- we can recover the narcotics and try to call in and try to get an arrest warrant for the old man. >> so we're going to cut him loose? >> yeah, yeah. >> just so you know, this wasn't a wasted effort on our part. we got some drugs out of your house. now, we're not saying they're yours. we're not saying any of that. but just so you know, the search

warrant was for the house. your house has been searched thoroughly. you're going to go back to a little bit of clutter, but it's not personal this is business. >> yeah, i know. >> i understand. >> when you're doing bad business, it's our business to handle. you understand what i'm saying to you? >> even though police don't take anyone in tonight, they can issue an arrest warrant for their missing target and wait to catch him another day. >> they say the father allegedly doesn't really live there but he's there all the time. so that doesn't make sense either. and he shows up every day or every other day and drops them off $50 or $100 apiece. so the father's got to be making some decent money. it seems like those kids are out to fend for themselves. maybe the father thinks he's right or wrong if he's putting them in play with dealing the drugs, or maybe just trying to keep them happy with giving them some money here and there, and he feels his job is done, i don't know. but there's a right way and a wrong way to make your money.

♪ >> yeah, yeah, i'm at work now, boss. i got all his information. >> following last night's raid, investigators carpenter and sandoval will circle back to their informant niko to thank him for his help. he's established trust on his first job, paving the way for more operations in the future. he's one of 20 confidential informants or cis working on the outside for carpenter and sandoval. >> i think guys would be good at it, and they see their rewards in, whether it be financial rewards or we've had ci's get picked up on a petty case, we've made some phone calls, the case goes away. >> you do that to make a living. informants make a living. this is their job. they know they're going to get a percentage of the stuff that's recovered. so the bigger they get, the more they get. >> people are looking for safety. he's looking to the left, to the right. you see, he's flagging me down, right?

remember that house you gave demus? >> six weeks after investigator franco doma took his informant washington to identify dope houses, the sheriff's police zero in on one of those locations for a stakeout. they call in washington to help them set up surveillance and plan an undercover sting. >> first house on the left. >> first house on the left. is it this one here? >> it ain't got no gate. that's it. >> the target house is based in a notorious gang war zone called the wild hundreds. this area stretches from 100th street to 130th street on chicago's south side. and is home to rival gangs like the black pea stones, vice lords and gds. washington claims he's bought

cocaine and premium grade cannibis called cush at the house. >> wait 24 hours. they were there 2 hours chockwise. >> to get in the house we have to buy twice. >> to get the search warrant, we need to buy two times. >> investigator demus hernandez will send an undercover officer to do two separate buys at the house while he and another conduct surveillance. we rode along with one of the officers to watch the target location on a busy thursday night. >> all right, we're at 118th >> i'll have a good eye on it, i'm not even a block away. so there's quite a few people out on the block, though. they're out on porches, and it's not as quiet as we thought it would be.

>> a steady stream of customers arrives within minutes. arrives within minutes. >> we got a van, a minivan that pulled up, we got another cadillac pulling up behind that car. so stand by. all right. somebody in a red jacket just came out of the target house. someone else is coming out. we have a lot of people coming in and out. oh. you got a -- >> all right. i got a car that just pulled in front of me, occupied with two males, they're just sitting in the car right in front of me. looking the same way we're looking. i don't know why and they're on the cell phone right now. >> gangs often employ their own countersurveillance to watch for cops near the drug houses. >> i got some foot track on the block.

>> all right. i got to get out of here. i got a guy walking up to us. >> the blocks too hot to stay but an undercover officer makes two buys without a problem and investigators then debrief at a nearby location. >> a lot of times when you have a house that's so busy it's a group effort. they'll put counter surveillance out, they'll put their security out, and call up anybody they see on the block. the cars, they usually don't see so they'll call everything out. that's what it sounds like this block is. a hot block. >> now that the police have enough evidence for a self-warrant they get ready to launch a raid in the next 24 hours. >> the target door is the white one. >> but they never see the curveball that's coming. >> ain't got no one up here on cover. >> police search warrant. police search warrant. >> it's just a game.

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see, he's flagging me down, right? you took a friend to this guy's residence. >> what's 3.5? >> an eight ball. >> an eight ball of cocaine. >> six weeks after investigator domma and his informant identified an alleged drug house the sheriff's police conduct undercover buys there. 24 hours later, they prepare to execute a search warrant. >> our target house is with the blue porch. our target door is the white one. the one to the right is boarded up. >> it's the friday night, and the weather is unseasonably warm. perfect conditions for big business at a high-rolling dope house. >> our informant was in there

recently, and there was a weapon when he made a transaction. >> the subject of the warrant is known to carry firearms so the risk level is high. a 29-member team will storm the location. they're highly manned but won't have the element of surprise on their side. >> there is lookouts in this area. we're -- all over. >> they were on the street and allegedly supposed to be one up on that second floor that's boarded up. so, yeah, i observed somebody in that window. >> see you on the beach, kid. >> stay on the ground. >> watch your backgrounds and watch your backs when we approach the house. there's a lot of security people that pay attention to things that go on over there. >> hey, police search warrant. police search warrant. >> the team breaches the property from the back. >> police, search warrant.

>> secondaries. >> coming out. >> coming out. >> police quickly secure a mostly empty house and find only two people inside. and catch another man running outside with over $1,000 in his pockets. he has no drugs or weapons on him, though, and no outstanding warrants. the street is otherwise quiet and eerily so as investigators search the property for evidence, a troubling reality sets in. not only is their target not home, they're unable to find the narcotics or guns they'd been expecting. what seemed like a slam dunk case the night before has taken a nosedive. >> like i told you, i don't know.

i don't know. i've been keeping it real. i went to the store, got my drink and i got my tea. i ain't no hype. every now and then i do hooter, but i'm not leaving [ bleep ] for nobody. >> there's residue. >> okay, but i have no knowledge of that, sir. >> the individuals removed from the house have nothing on them either so police let them go. >> there was a bunch of them right here in the middle of the street and as soon as we turned the attorney and came down, they knew right away. >> that hog is in there but baggies and scales -- yesterday this place was like grand central station. >> one of the investigators got information from the neighbors 20 minutes ago they were running out of the house with bags and getting in their cars and leaving. >> assuming that's correct, anything. it could be our informant tipped them off. i mean, it's a possibility.

>> i mean behind some scales and packaging. that's about it. somehow they got tipped off. i don't know how. >> nothing is clear about how the sting operation got compromised. it could be that countersurveillance spotted the cops last night, or that lookouts saw the caravan of police coming off the expressway, or the informant double-crossed his handlers. >> i want to say no. i hope it wasn't. he's been very reliable for the past year and a half that we've been using him. now i got to a chance to talk to him over the weekend. see what he says. >> we can sit here and speculate for the next hour what happened or where everyone went and what went wrong. it's a game. that's all it is. a [ bleep ] game. but it still pisses you off when you don't get them. it still does. no matter what.